2 Pounds, 2 Days, (6 Meals) *Day 1* - Limited Budget Food Challenge

This is an exercise in which I set myself the task of cooking 6 different meals on a total budget of £2
As usual, there will be rules and permissions - this time though, travel is only permitted on foot.
This video contains the shopping, some foraging and Day 1 of the menu.

It's important to note: this is NOT an attempt to 'play at being poor' (although it did make me appreciate things that I normally take for granted), NEITHER is it an attempt to 'prove that people on benefits could get by with less' (in fact if anything, it proves the opposite - because this was a difficult thing to do - that's why it's called a 'challenge').
Primarily, this is an exercise that I set myself specifically to try to provoke a creative response; to nurture or develop transferrable skills of creativity and adaptability.

(£2 is about 2.81 USD at the time of upload)

Timestamps:
0:00 Intro
0:31 Rules & Permissions
1:56 Shopping
4:14 'just get ramen'
8:06 Breakfast (prep)
14:52 Breakfast (serve)
15:33 Bread prep
17:40 Foraging walk
20:22 More bread prep
21:30 More foraging
26:05 More bread prep
28:19 Lunch (prep)
38:19 Lunch (serve)
39:47 Dinner (prep)
40:49 Dinner (serve)
42:11 Conclusion

[AtomicShrimp]

*Afterthoughts & Addenda:*
*Japanese Knotweed:* it's a criminal offence to cause this invasive plant to spread here in the UK. It's not mandatory to report it when you find it, but I contacted the Parish Council, who own the land at Botley Quay - they replied to say they are aware of it and are working on a plan to eradicate it.
Why so serious? Japanese knotweed is an invasive species that can reproduce from quite a small piece of the plant and is resistant to herbicides and most control methods short of nuking it from orbit - if I were to pick it and take it home, any of the trimmings would have to be carefully destroyed - if they were thrown in the compost, they could just root. Not worth the risk for something that apparently tastes like an inferior version of rhubarb.

[Andromeda]

When he couldn't find mushrooms to eat, and cut to the next shot of cows, my first thought was "Well, that escalated quickly"

[spinorama]

Hats off to all the people who died for us in the trial and error process of finding out which plants are edible and which ones aren't.

[The_Horizon]

do 7 days for 7 pounds. It seems like the more you can buy at once, the more scale takes play. I think that would be interesting to see.

[ThndrMge]

You know what impresses me about this challenge? I'm not even started yet, and your restriction of "most kitchen cupboard ingredients" makes me so so happy! I've watched a very large number of these types of "tiny budget for multiple meals" challenges and every single one of them just goes "Oh, I'll also have full access to everything in my cupboards!" Like yeah, of course you can make everything edible and delicious when you throw an extra 20 USD of spices and herbs into the dish "for free" thank you for actually taking the challenge seriously.

[ClearlyPixelated]

I'm glad that you considered nutrition over price. You are actually addressing a HUGE concern with many low income grocery budgets.

[markpritchard]

I can remember the days when i could get dinner, pudding sweets and drinks for well under £2. Sadly these days they have security cameras everywhere.

[sunset_sarsaparilla]

“And as you can tell by the look of this flower it is a member of cabbage family”
The only thing I can tell by the look of this flower is that it is most likely a plant :D

[jacobfredman]

Everyone: amazed by his cooking skills
me: amazed by how knowledgable he is on different subjects

[Rucka_Inc.]

"Tea doesn't count"
Quite literally the most British rule out there.

[lindboknifeandtool]

This man is doing calculations on the scale of energy per penny. You’re a legend.

[katherinebewsher]

Tesco employee here. Get yourself to the reduction shelves at 7:00pm or abit later and everything is reduced by 75%.

[Daniel-wblr]

A loaf of reduced bread/out of date, aldi for a tin of tomatoes, a tin of beans or a tin of spaghetti. Fed me for a day under £1. Water to drink. Walk everywhere. How I survived years back when I was of no fixed abode, yes I ate the tins cold, sometimes a tin of aldi hot dogs. 23 years later I'm fairly well off and own my own home. Whenever anyone makes me food regardless of if I like it or not I make a point of thanking them and eating it all, because I remember real hard times, starving all day then eating a 50p fritter cob after a 7 mile walk because it was either catch the bus n go hungry or walk the 7 mile and eat.

[Flame]

This man’s foraging knowledge never ceases to amaze me. So interesting to learn this stuff!

[HenryFromWob]

"Using self-checkout on budget shopping is for cowards. I have no shame."
This really made me laugh. 😁

[sydneybrown]

Gotta love how he pays attention to the nutritional value of all the food and meals

[bootsybadger]

Bravo! I really appreciate your comments in the intro that you're not 'playing poor' nor trying to prove that 'people on benefits could get by with less'.
What you have successfully shown is that restriction can be a spur to creativity. A v enjoyable watch.

[hectordavid]

He is the most wholesome man I've ever seen, walking on sock while he cooks, giving cute and informative content, just being himself, he loves his dog and cooks very well, this guy is a national treasure and we got to protect him at all costs

[josiahlee]

Also seriously for people saying for him to make ramen noodles, this challenge is exciting since we see him being creative with his cooking, making cool foods with such a minuscule budget

[NeshaeSerpentine]

I just tried making dumplings following your method and using herbs gathered from around my apartment with some beef and chicken broth and it was so good it was demanded that i make it again soon. Thanks for the inspiration and instructions.